Notre Dame would prefer to remain independent amid the shuffling of college football’s top conferences, and all for the low price of $75 million annually.
That’s how much the Fighting Irish are seeking in a new media rights contract from longtime broadcast partner NBC, according to CBS Sports. The existing deal with the network, currently worth around $22 million per year, reportedly is slated to expire in 2025.
NBC, which has broadcast Notre Dame home games since 1991, is looking to procure what the report described as “shoulder programming”– meaning games to be aired before and after Irish games — from a Power Five conference such as the Big 12 or the Big Ten.
In addition to an expected $1 billion media rights deal with Fox, the Big Ten also is searching for additional network partners, such as NBC, to air more of its games and programming. NBC’s negotiations are expected to extend across the next several weeks, according to the report.
Notre Dame wants $75 million per year from broadcast partner NBC to remain independent and not join a mega-conference. Icon Sportswire via Getty ImagesIf Notre Dame doesn’t receive the offer it’s seeking, it’s conceivable that the marquee program could join the SEC, which already is slated to add Big 12 powerhouses Oklahoma and Texas in 2025, or the Big Ten, which announced last month that USC and UCLA are joining the conference in 2024.
